Boeing Middle of the Market (MOM)/New Medium Airplane (NMA) Saga

marauder2048 said:
LowObservable said:
ETOPS eliminates the need for the 777, and the domestic and international missions are handled by a twin.

Uh..wut?

The original 777 proposal of this era, as described in LO's narrative, was essentially a three-engine 767. Once ETOPS became a thing, the need for a trijet in this class evaporated.
 
George Allegrezza said:
marauder2048 said:
LowObservable said:
ETOPS eliminates the need for the 777, and the domestic and international missions are handled by a twin.

Uh..wut?

The original 777 proposal of this era, as described in LO's narrative, was essentially a three-engine 767. Once ETOPS became a thing, the need for a trijet in this class evaporated.

The notional (767 derivative) 777 trijet was dead long before ETOPS became a thing; the -100 was only marginally better than
the 767-200 on transcon and ran out of customers while -200 ran out of wing and thrust for intercontinental.
 
To say that the original 777 trijet was dead implies that it was alive. It was (I think) well understood following the July 1978 launch of the 767 and the launch of the 757 soon after that Boeing could not kick off the 777 for some time, so the project remained dormant. By 1981-82, Boeing was talking about the 767-200ER and took the first order in Dec 1982, with the firm idea in mind that overwater limits could be relaxed - the -200ER market was otherwise minuscule. The first ETOPS 120 clearances were issued less than a year after the -200ER entered service.

Boeing, in 1980-81, argued that the 767 wing was the optimal size for a transcon 767-200; Airbus argued that the wing was oversized for that mission, and since it remained unchanged on the fully intercontinental, stretched -300ER they were probably right,
 
http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/new-midsize-airplane-will-define-boeings-technology-roadmap?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20170317_AW-05_630&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2&utm_rid=CPEN1000000230026&utm_campaign=9134&utm_medium=email&elq2=04098c24402048ca80944a01a649ac99

Mods might want to modify thread title to include other names for MOM like the New Midsize Airplane (NMA) and 797 so that it shows up in searches.
 
"Opinion: Boeing’s Twin-Aisle Midsize Jet Faces Big Challenges"
Boeing needs twin-aisle capabilities with single-aisle economics
Mar 28, 2017 Richard Aboulafia | Aviation Week & Space Technology

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/opinion-boeing-s-twin-aisle-midsize-jet-faces-big-challenges?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20170330_AW-05_761&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPEN1000001526993&utm_campaign=9328&utm_medium=email&elq2=239b441e4e5f4c169c40aa52efd9dfd2

The drumbeat for a new Boeing midsize jetliner is growing louder. The recent ISTAT and Speednews conferences saw constant references to the new jet, which will seat 220-260 passengers with 5,000-5,500-nm range. Air Lease Corp. Executive Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy even gave it a proper Boeing designation: the 797.

Given Boeing’s worsening disadvantage versus Airbus in the jetliner middle market, and given the company’s tendency to rest on its laurels and take long product-development holidays, the prospect of a new jet is very welcome news. But beyond the idea of a new Boeing aircraft, things get complicated. The 797’s twin-aisle configuration is the big issue.

First, there’s the market. Any projection of trends over the past 30 years—airliner fleets, orders and deliveries—clearly shows that single-aisle middle-market jets have enjoyed stronger growth than twin-aisle middle market jets. The mid-market demand ratio is now at least 3:1 in favor of single-aisles.

This explains the A321neo order book: about 1,400 aircraft. It also may explain why orders for 250-seat twin-aisles—particularly the 787-8 and A330-800—have been eclipsed by orders for larger variants. Norwegian’s recently announced plans to start transatlantic service with 737 MAXs, along with the increased number of other transatlantic single-aisle routes, suggest that, if anything, some twin-aisle midsize demand will migrate downward.

Second, there are the higher costs associated with twin-aisles. A glance at operating and production economics (block hour cost per seat and realized price per seat, respectively) clearly shows that there’s a significant gap between single- and twin-aisle jets. A single-aisle product is inherently cheaper to buy, build and fly. Low-cost carriers seeking fast turnaround times may like the idea of two aisles, in theory. But if twin-aisle operating economics remain distinctly higher than single-aisles’, it is unlikely that faster turnaround times will actually trump lower operating costs.

Boeing is aware of this problem. Company representatives have made it clear that the 797 needs to offer twin-aisle capabilities—range, comfort, capacity, and faster turnaround time—with single-aisle economics.

If Boeing is successful with this, they will have a product that likely stimulates demand in the mid-market twin-aisle segment. This is a reasonable goal. One big reason that orders for the 787 and Airbus A330neo series have migrated to the larger members of these families is that these aircraft are built with the structures and systems needed for longer routes and larger models. A plane that’s optimized for the shorter and lighter routes, like the 797, should convince airlines to fly new thinner routes between new city pairs.

But there are no guarantees that Boeing will be able to bridge the cost gap between single- and twin-aisle jets with the 797. And new technologies developed for the 797—particularly new engine technologies—could be used to help lower single-aisle operating costs, too, keeping the gap in place.

We might then see an echo of the late 1970s. At the time, Boeing concluded that the middle jetliner market really needed two products. The single-aisle 757 was introduced at about the same time as the twin-aisle 767, and the manufacturer sought commonality between the two types wherever possible. This time, Boeing is clearly looking at the 797 to play the 767’s role, while developing the 737-10 to do the 757 job.

The problem, though, is that the market views Airbus’s A321neo as better able to replace the 757. And while Boeing could change course and make the 797 a new single-aisle jet, that would imply the 737 MAX would merely be an interim product. Orders would take a serious hit. Also, Boeing might find it difficult to differentiate a new large single-aisle from the A321neo, turning this segment into a low-profit commodity product battlefield.

Therefore, Boeing will likely press ahead with the twin-aisle 797. The company can only hope that it reduces costs enough to stimulate demand in this segment. Otherwise, it’s quite possible that the 797 will get the bulk of the smaller twin-aisle middle market, while the A321neo continues to get the overwhelming majority of the much larger single-aisle middle market.
 

Attachments

  • UF13_0.jpg
    UF13_0.jpg
    74.6 KB · Views: 681
http://aviationweek.com/paris-air-show-2017/boeing-nma-details-emerging
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/20/news/companies/boeing-797-paris-first-peek/index.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-19/ge-tells-boeing-it-won-t-share-797-engines-with-two-arch-rivals
+
via Jon Ostrower https://twitter.com/jonostrower and Guy Norris https://twitter.com/AvWeekGuy
 

Attachments

  • 170620063534-boeing-797-screenshot-780x439.jpeg
    170620063534-boeing-797-screenshot-780x439.jpeg
    44.6 KB · Views: 613
  • DCwahojUAAA7zHp.jpg
    DCwahojUAAA7zHp.jpg
    71.1 KB · Views: 607
  • DCwc0pIVYAAt8Sq.jpg
    DCwc0pIVYAAt8Sq.jpg
    352.5 KB · Views: 524
  • DCwepxMUAAAJrw9.jpg
    DCwepxMUAAAJrw9.jpg
    327.1 KB · Views: 508
2nd Century Digital Architecture - hot diggity!
 
Arjen said:
2nd Century Digital Architecture - hot diggity!

Does that mean counting on your fingers?
 
LowObservable said:
I assume "hybrid cross-section" means "sized to accommodate human-hamster hybrids".

I'm thinking perhaps a more flattened underbody for more body lift, at least around the wing body junction. A more elliptical horizontal cross section would certainly work to that advantage too though moving far from a perfect circle or circular lobes gets more and more difficult in maintaining pressurization loads I'm sure. Though it's not to say unpressurized shaping couldn't be added to the body (and be used for something practical like fuel tankage). That just introduces more issues and engineering though.
 
JFC Fuller said:
... and an abacus.
Proven technology to create crossover economics. Can't get much more proven than that.
 
LowObservable said:
I assume "hybrid cross-section" means "sized to accommodate human-hamster hybrids".

Boeing has had a few patents for a oval cross section fuselage in recent years. It was one of the things they were looking at with the Yellowstone design studies.

Anyway, going off the image posted and correcting the perspective distortion the length of the mom/797 looks to be right around 150 feet.
 
Hi,

http://aviationweek.com/paris-air-show-2017/boeing-unveils-notional-new-midsize-airplane-timetable
 
"Boeing’s next all-new jet moves closer to reality"
Originally published September 25, 2017 at 6:15 pm Updated September 26, 2017 at 6:34 am

by Dominic Gates

Source:
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeings-next-all-new-jet-moves-a-step-closer-to-reality/

Boeing put program leadership in place Monday in readiness for an anticipated launch in 2018 of its next all-new jet.

Commercial Airplanes boss Kevin McAllister has created a new airplane program office to “move us one step closer to a decision on a New Mid-market Airplane (NMA) and also serve as a vehicle to evolve how we design and build airplanes.”

The proposed new jet, which industry experts are anticipating as the “797,” is conceived as intermediate in size between the single-aisle 737 and the twin-aisle 787 Dreamliner, with a range that could make it transatlantic and suitable for long thin, point-to-point routes.

Although the move clearly indicates growing momentum toward a formal launch of this new airplane, which would be targeted to enter service around 2024, in an internal memo sent Monday afternoon to all Commercial Airplanes employees, McAllister stressed that Boeing is not actually pulling the trigger just yet.

“To be clear, today’s announcement represents neither a program launch nor an indication of when we will decide whether to take the next step with NMA,” McAllister wrote. “Those questions and others still lie ahead.”

Experts expect Boeing to make a formal launch decision no later than next year.

McAllister said he’s appointed Mark Jenks, who has been heading the 787 program, as vice president and general manager of the new NMA program office, which will be based in Renton.

“With a wealth of lessons learned on the 787, (Jenks) has the right expertise to lead production system development, reduce program risk and manage the tradeoffs between cost and investment in meeting development targets,” McAllister told employees.

The NMA, first discussed publicly at the 2015 Paris Air Show, gathered momentum at this year’s Paris Air Show.

Boeing said then it had consulted with 57 different airlines about the concept, which is for a twin-aisle airplane seating 220 to 270 passengers with a medium range of 5,500 to 5,700 miles.
 
OTOH, note the "heavily discounted" and the dependence on oil prices. It's an artefact of Boeing having the airframe in production for the tanker contract, rather than being independently viable. Those are going to be some deep discounts as owners will need to protect themselves against any future oil price rises leaving them stuck with a new and commercially non-viable project.
 
"Boeing weighs urgent plans to double 767 production in Everett for a big buyer"
by Andrew McIntosh – Staff Writer, Puget Sound Business Journal
Oct 19, 2017, 3:28pm PDT Updated Oct 25, 2017, 3:06pm

Source:
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/10/19/boeing-767-production-increase-everett-united.html

Boeing is urgently weighing plans to double 767 production in Everett, the Puget Sound Business Journal has learned.

The Chicago-based jetmaker (NYSE: BA) is asking its employees and suppliers whether they can deliver on the rate increase to win a big aircraft order, according to a Boeing document and three industry sources who requested anonymity to protect business relationships.

Boeing has not made a passenger version of its 767 for years. The production increase would offer a steady stream of new work to suppliers in the Puget Sound region.

Boeing spokesman Paul Bergman declined to comment.

The moves come amid rumors Boeing has secured or is close to securing a huge order for 767s from a major airline, possibly United Continental (NYSE: UAL). Between 50 and 100 jets are potentially involved, sources said.

United Continental spokeswoman Andrea Hiller had no immediate comment Thursday.

Chicago-based United's airplane fleet includes 51 Boeing 767s, including 16 that are 25 years old, according to Planespotters.net. United also operates 77 Boeing 757 jets with an average age of 19 to 20 years old.

There have also been rumors of a sale of 100 Boeing 767 freighters to Amazon's growing Prime Air cargo fleet.
 
"Success of Max 10 to dictate Boeing's NMA: Ascend"
18 October, 2017 SOURCE: Flight Dashboard BY: Sophie Segal New York

Source:
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/success-of-max-10-to-dictate-boeings-nma-ascend-442262/

Boeing's NMA strategy could depend on the reception of its 737 Max programme, Flight Ascend Consultancy has suggested.

"Boeing's performance in the 737 market will impact its decision on this airplane because right now the Max 10 is a competitive response to the A321LR," said the consultancy's head Rob Morris at an industry briefing in New York on 17 October.

Given Airbus's majority market share with the A320neo, "Boeing needs to give it a bit of time to see what happens", he adds, noting that only time will tell if the US manufacturer is able to reach equilibrium with its European rival.

Morris says that today there are still more questions than answers about Boeing's New Mid-market Airplane and whether it will look more like a 757 replacement, a 767-200, or an A321LR.

The Max 10 "is not the panacea that Boeing thinks it would be... to create equilibrium" in market share with the A321LR, Morris opines. He adds: "So what do Boeing do next, if they can't correct with a Max derivative? Maybe they launch with an MoM [middle-of-the-market] airplane" – which could potentially have negative consequences for longevity of the 737 Max product line.

Morris suggests that an appropriate delivery price for a middle-of-the-market aircraft would be about $70-75 million, given its market position between the top end of the existing single-aisle programmes and bottom end of small twin-aisles. But he questions whether that price would make economic sense against the development costs of the aircraft. "There are many more questions to be answered," he notes.
 
Presumably Boeing would have to build the passenger 767s on the tanker/transport line, the economics of a single order won't sustain a new line. That means producing -2C (tankers), -300F and -300ER hulls on the same line. Certainly not impossible, and in fact rather ordinary, but I do hope Boeing have talked to USAF about this, because they aren't happy about KC-46 delays, and anything that even raises the faint possibility of disrupting the line is likely to have the Pentagon ringing Boeing for a little chat.
 
"Boeing 767 passenger jet relaunch would be good for discount and charter airlines, aerospace analyst says Boeing 767 passenger jet relaunch would be good for discount and charter airlines, aerospace analyst says "

by Andrew McIntosh – Staff Writer, Puget Sound Business Journal
a day ago

Source:
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/10/30/boeing-767-passenger-jet-relaunch-aeroanalysis.htmlhttps://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/10/30/boeing-767-passenger-jet-relaunch-aeroanalysis.html

Boeing's potential plan to "relaunch" production of its 767-300 passenger jet could be ideal for discount and charter airlines that want new aircraft but can't afford Dreamliners.

Boeing's newer 787-8 Dreamliner (the smallest in the Dreamliner family) offers better range and fuel efficiency than the jet maker's older 767-300 extended range jet, which has not been made for years.

But the Dreamliners come with a pricetag that not all airlines can or want to pay, said Dhierin Bechai, an analyst with AeroAnalyst in London.

"For airlines, the problem is capital costs," Bechai wrote in a recent report. "The Boeing 787-8 sells for roughly $115 million, while a Boeing 767-300ER at 35 percent of list price would sell for $70 million at most, I would reckon," Bechai wrote.

"That means the Boeing 767-300ER has 40 percent lower acquisition costs," Bechai wrote.
 
So, there's a story going that Boeing has solicited engine makers for engines to go with a MOM aircraft (NMA or 797).

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/boeing-797-ge-pratt-whitney-rolls-royce-told-to-bid-for-new-plane.html

Now, the first version is reported to be the NMA-6X, a 228-passenger medium-range aircraft with a 5,000 nautical mile range. A second version, the NMA-7X would be larger with 267 seats, but a range of 4,200 nautical miles.

.....

Morris said Pratt & Whitney’s proposal could also be in the mix if it can demonstrate that its GTF technology could scale up to the 45,000 pounds of thrust that Boeing is said to be demanding.
 
Delta in talks to be the NMA launch customer.
"We've had discussions with Boeing about being a potential launch customer," says Ed Bastian, chief executive of Delta, at the National Press Club in Washington DC today.

While Bastian caveats any launch order on the final parameters of the NMA that Boeing has yet to finalise, the Atlanta-based carrier is "interested" and will continue to discuss the programme with the airframer, he says.
As Boeing finalises the NMA, Delta's biggest consideration on a possible launch order will be getting the "cheapest price possible", says Bastian - maintaining a sentiment frequently espoused by his former boss.
 
797 has been trademarked by Boeing. Hope we get a launch at Farnborough in a few days.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-secures-797-trademark-450071/
 
The Lazy B gets lazier.

A321 XLR launched in June '19, already has 450 orders on the books. Now Boeing doesn't even have a paper airplane anymore to compete with it, nor do they seemingly have anything coming for the next decade as an NMA/MOM/797 or 737 MAX replacement.
 
Lazier? Starting over because the design you had wasn't going to make money isn't lazy. It's a lot more work. Lots of things to criticize Boeing for here, mainly for misreading the market and designing the wrong type of aircraft. But I don't see lazy.
 
Yes, lot of work but also for the market and the new management team, a certain insurance that no gremlins will compromise the future. That way the market will be supportive and heavy investments are postponed a bit.
Hence probably not a novel design but a clean sheet (cheaper) design for sure.
 
Lazier? Starting over because the design you had wasn't going to make money isn't lazy. It's a lot more work. Lots of things to criticize Boeing for here, mainly for misreading the market and designing the wrong type of aircraft. But I don't see lazy.
Agreed, it's a bit hyperbolic, but the point, admittedly not so artfully made, is Boeing is where it is today largely because it failed to act decisively to replace the 737/757 with a clean sheet design when Airbus launched the A320 NEO family. There was/is a market for the aircraft (the A321LR/A321XLR order book already speaks to that fact) and Boeing has all but surrendered it by vacillating for well over a decade about the NMA/MoM. Now they are in a spot where their competitor moved into that market space - and will likely fill that market space for the next 10-15 years, to such a degree that perhaps Boeing may not have the confidence it will ever be able to build and sell enough NMA/"797s" to recoup their investment in developing a new airframe.

I'd like to think this sudden pivot with respect to the NMA is the precursor to Boeing getting its house in order before biting the bullet and winding down the MAX in favor of the launch of a clean sheet narrowbody before the end of this decade. Ideally that airframe will either be derived from, or also serve as the foundation of, a notional NMA (or whatever Boeing will call it) that will be in operation 20+ years from now. However, the performance and some of the decision-making of management at Boeing over the past 20 years (the one that said as recently as 2015 that the NMA market was only "300-1,000 aircraft") doesn't exactly inspire confidence. I suspect this latest twist in the NMA/MoM/"797"-story isn't so much driven by a lack of market space for the aircraft, as it is by the fiscal disaster that is the 737 MAX and the financial and engineering capital it will require to replace it with a clean sheet design. Much like the 787's woes that influenced Boeing's response to the NEO, the consequential 737 MAX fiasco has also likely now hobbled Boeing with respect to launching the NMA (at least as it has been conceptualized over the past couple of years).
 
A crazy idea, but what if Boeing left the 737MAX replacement to Embraer who still has an untarnished reputation and a large slice of the feederliner market while they concentrate on on a larger MoA which joins closer to the 787 segment?
 
An interesting idea. Probably a non-starter though, unfortunately.
 
A crazy idea, but what if Boeing left the 737MAX replacement to Embraer who still has an untarnished reputation and a large slice of the feederliner market while they concentrate on on a larger MoA which joins closer to the 787 segment?

Please think about what you are saying and calmly, very calmly - step away from that thought. We have enough to worry about without people bringing common sense into the issue.......
 
A crazy idea, but what if Boeing left the 737MAX replacement to Embraer who still has an untarnished reputation and a large slice of the feederliner market while they concentrate on on a larger MoA which joins closer to the 787 segment?

Please think about what you are saying and calmly, very calmly - step away from that thought. We have enough to worry about without people bringing common sense into the issue.......
I'd like to have the popcorn (and pitchfork) concession in Renton and Wichita if that were to happen.
 
A crazy idea, but what if Boeing left the 737MAX replacement to Embraer who still has an untarnished reputation and a large slice of the feederliner market while they concentrate on on a larger MoA which joins closer to the 787 segment?
Really really skeptical of that approach for a few reasons, but perhaps the biggest is that Boeing needs to build confidence in its primary brand right now. Any action that looks like "we still don't think 'Boeing' is going to be healthy or fixed anytime soon" is BAD for employee, supplier, customer, and investor confidence. If BCA wants a future it needs to prove it has its swing back, not retreat and hope nobody notices how much of a mess they are. A joint-development between the Brazilian and North American engineering teams is fine enough, but that's different.

Second biggest reason not to go this path, at least to me, is that it seems like the ship has absolutely sailed on a conservative, conventional design. If they were to replace the 737 in 2010 with a clean-sheet conventional design, they were already facing a large challenge to meet the A321neo's costs, support base, pilot familiarity, etc while still having a profitable aircraft. A decade later the problem's only gotten harder, and Embraer's not the solution to all of those. The way to claw back that market now is to provide the sort of performance (fuel burn per seat mile) enhancement only possible with an innovative new design. We already saw them sorta edging outside the comfort zone with the wide fuselage on NMA, but really something like hybrid/turboelectric, high aspect ratio wing, boundry layer ingestion, etc in some combination is needed.
 
The solution is always a leap forward when you have the ressources (human, technological and financial). New here is the mass criteria of Airbus market share (and in vis à vis Boeing) that makes the fall precarious. That's where the integrated industry (with Embraer) will be a ressource: high tech at a lower cost to trim risk.
 



 
This sounds like more of the indecision problem Boeing's board has suffered from ever since 777's entry into service (which is now almost 25 years ago). All the 777 guys (FCS at least) expected to move straight over to 747X (a 747 fuselage with a 777 technology wing), Boeing's board got cold feet and nothing happened. Then there was the Sonic Cruiser, which admittedly was a mistaken decision rather than indecision. If you're launching a new airliner, first check it's one the airlines want. That became 787, with its own set of problems. Then it was time for a new single aisle to replace the 737. The board ummed and ahhed and when Airbus announced Neo was shoehorned into MAX. So Boeing was going to launch NMA to compete in the 757/767 replacement market (last 757 delivery 2005, last 767 passenger variant delivery 2014), but tumbleweed instead of an actual announcement. Meanwhile Airbus has been going great guns with A321LR/LRX in the middle of the market segment, with no Boeing competition. And now Boeing's board have gotten cold feet over their NMA concept and gone back to the drawing board.

I suspect Boeing may be considering downsizing NMA as an A321LRX competitor and competing for 737/757 replacements, rather than 757/767, leaving 787 to handle the 767 replacement market.
 
Would Boeing now be better served by doing what they should have done with the MAX, retain the 737 fuselage for now, and concentrate their design efforts on new wings, tail, and corresponding undercarriage ?

cheers,
Robin.
 
Aside from the PR optics, I doubt that they would be able to squeeze anything more out of the 737 airframe that's worthwhile.
 
Would Boeing now be better served by doing what they should have done with the MAX, retain the 737 fuselage for now, and concentrate their design efforts on new wings, tail, and corresponding undercarriage ?

cheers,
Robin.
Possible, but as GH says they're probably limited in what they can really do in that scenario. At some point, you either run out of options with the airframe or you spend so much money "updating" it that you're giving up any advantage versus a clean sheet of paper.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom